Apostolic Devotions Blog

Personal Development: 9 Tips to Become a Morning Person Written by Writer and Author, William BallardRecently, I listened to a podcast entitled “Become More Productive by Reengineering Your Morning Ritual.” That podcast episode essentially inspired this post. First, yes, contrary to popular belief, it is possible to become a morning person. This is not like trying to become a professional basketball player if you are only 5'6". This is more like trying to change a mindset and a set of habits. You can do it if you are intentional.Why would you want to do this? “Morning people” tend to:

Make more money.

Be more productive.

Be healthier and live longer.

Be more happy and satisfied in their lives.

But here is the questions, how do you actually become a morning person if you aren’t one now? Here are nine tips you can take starting today:

Change your mindset and change your habitual patterns. So many people say, “I’m not a morning person,” as though it were an biological fact. Could it be that there is no biological evidence for this? What if you discovered that this was merely a preference and years of a habitual rut? What would happen if you changed your mindset and began telling yourself, “I am a morning person.” Usually, we adjust our behavior to fit our beliefs.

Determine the risk factors. Whenever I want to change anything in my life or accomplish a significant goal, I start by articulating to myself why it is important. Write down on a sheet of paper what becoming a morning person would make possible in your life. Then, conversely, write down what is at risk if you don’t. This is great to do when you are motivated; however, its real value is to keep you going when you’ve lost that first boost of enthusiasm.

Plan for your time of rest. Like changing any other habit, you have to set yourself up for success. You probably can’t keep going to bed at the same time you are now and get by on less sleep. Your body will resist. Instead, if you know you need eight hours of sleep, and you know you’d like to get up at 5:00 a.m., calculate backwards to determine what time you must be asleep. For example, I get up at 7:30 a.m. and need seven to eight hours sleep. That means I have to be in bed asleep by 9:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m.

Use an alarm. After years of waking up early, this has become an engrained habit for me. I wake up at 7:30 a.m. without an alarm a lot of the time. It is amazing how consistent this is—sometimes when I don’t want it to be. However, if you haven’t been a morning person until now, you will likely need to use an alarm. It’s part of training yourself mentally and physically. Whether you use the alarm on your smart phone or a top dresser one (like shown in the photo above), put it on the other side of the room—so you have to get up to turn it off.

Lights, Lights, Lights! The climates and seasonal environment provides subtle clues to your body so it knows how to respond. When it gets dark, your body naturally begins preparing itself for sleep (unless you have conditioned it otherwise). When it gets light, you naturally begin waking up. If you want to jumpstart this process and signal to your body that it is time to get up, simulate full daylight. Turn on all the lights in the room. When I was in basic training for the US Marine Corps this was a practice that they did every morning at 5:00 a.m. We didn't have physical alarms to wake us up (refer back to tip 4), so instead, we had drill instructors come running out of their offices screaming and yelling "Lights, Lights, Lights" at the top of their lungs while shining the lights at their full capacity. Needless to say, but getting up in that type of environment is a very easy thing to do. (WOW, writing that really brought back some memories) Watch this YouTube Video to get the idea.

Prepare your clothes for the next day. If you are groggy when you get up, the fewer decisions you need to make the better. So, make the decision about what to wear the night before. If you get dressed immediately, it is also less likely that you will take off your clothes and get back into your bed. I am a writer/author, and so most of the time I get to go to “work” barefoot and don’t have to worry about preparing a suit unless, of course, I have a meeting or interview to do in the morning for a project. It is just one of the luxuries of being a writer, but I have also had many years of being a morning person under my belt (thanks to the military).

Drink a cup of coffee. Having a cup of coffee will definitely benefit you first thing in the morning.

Enlist an accountability partner. Whether it is a mentor or a peer, find someone who understands the value of accountability. Explain your goal, tell him (or her) why it is important to you, and then give him permission to hold your feet to the fire. When I was in the military, waking up at 5:00 a.m. was normal and most times, we were recommend to go to bed at 9:00 p.m. Now, I am sure you can imagine how ridiculous that may sound for men at the age of 18 to 20. However, Sergeants and NCOs really didn’t care when you went to bed, but you had to be present and accounted for at formation at 5:00 a.m., no excuses. So, if someone was late to formation then the entire squad or platoon had to face the punishment. Well…it doesn’t take much to the imagination to know that after so many sprints, pushups, and so on, everyone in that squad and/or platoon became accountability partners for everyone.

Habits begin to form after 21 days. According to many psychologists, this is how long it takes to form a habit. I recommend you become a morning person for three weeks and then decide whether or not this will become a permanent part of your life. If not, you at least gave it a try. If so, you now have a new habit that can serve you well for the rest of your life.

To be honest, the real issue here is not becoming a morning person per se. What I really want to communicate is you have more power than you think. You don’t have to be stuck in a rut. If you are intentional, you can build the habits necessary to accomplish your goals—even if it means becoming a morning person. Just about any goal is 90% mental and 10% physical. Overcome the 90% and the actual getting up part is the least of your worries.

He has been writing professionally for over 10+ years and as much experience within the industry, both in publishing and in freelance writing. He has successfully self-published over 10 books and eBooks. Visit his Amazon Author Page to see list of his most recent projects.

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